With the advent of microelectronics, the sizes of components have been reduced significantly, while the complexities attendant to testing of such components has been increased. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a more effective and reliable probe card having special utility to effect testing of microelectronic components such as semiconductor devices, hybrid circuits, and substrates from which they are formed.
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, hybrid circuits and substrates for such devices and circuits, it is advisable that such components be tested to determine if they may reliably be used in end-product electronic equipment prior to installation of such components in the equipment. Preferably, such testing is effected even prior to the application of terminal leads to such components. Because of the minute size of the components, it is frequently difficult to select a given component from an array of such components and impose the necessary tests to determine utility of the component being tested. Accordingly, it is another object of the invention to provide an electrically conductive probe assembly adapted to be mounted on a probe card formed by a printed circuit board, with each of the probes in the probe assembly having a predetermined cooperative relationship with the circuit traces printed on the printed circuit board so as to facilitate the testing of microelectronic semiconductor components, hybrid circuits and the substrate chips from which they are formed prior to or after the application thereto of terminal leads.
It is understandable that since the microelectronic components that must be tested are extremely small, so too the testing devices utilized to effect the test are also frequently minute. The small size of the test device creates problems in connection with its manufacture almost as difficult of solution as the testing procedure itself. Accordingly, it is a still further object of the present invention to provide a novel method of manufacturing a conductive probe assembly for application to a printed circuit card to form a probe card.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a conductive probe assembly and of applying such probe assembly to a printed circuit board or card so that both these manufacturing processes are simplified and capable of being carried out by automated means.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method and means for permanently marking a component being tested to reflect its relative quality or grade in relation to a predtermined norm.